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Ag land values decrease again for 2019

By Russ Pankonin The Wauneta Breeze

For the second straight year, the value of cropland in Chase County showed a decline.
The values are coming off peak highs that occurred in 2015 through 2017. Those values were initially driven up by the demand for ag land when commodity prices peaked in 2012.
As commodity prices declined in recent years, the demand for land softened as well. This in turn brought down the price paid for ag land.
That lower sales history is now beginning to show up in assessed property values for ag land.
Irrigated land
For 2019, County Assessor Dotty Bartels dropped the value of irrigated land in the top four classes in the county to $3,765 per acre with the bottom four classes dropping to $3,550.
In 2018, the respective irrigated classes were valued at $4,090 and $3,855 per acre.
Those values peaked for the tax years of 2015, 2016 and 2017 at $4,445/acre for the top classes and $4,190/acre for the lower classes.
The drop in irrigated values between 2017 and 2019 represents a 15.3% reduction.

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